before the Lord Mayor, and the freeman was sworn to present to the Lord Mayor any unfranchised man who attempted to trade within the city and to take charge of his goods. Each trade had its own guild ruled by the Master, Wardens, and Searchers. Two of these trading companies are still in existence, the Merchant Adventurers and the Merchant Taylors. The hall of the former guild is in Fossgate. Over the entrance is their arms and motto _Dieu nous donne bonne adventure_. Steps lead from the courtyard to the hall with its three gables, the barge boards of which are carved with the leaves and fruit of the vine. The hall is a timber and plaster building and consists of two rooms which have panelled dados and open roofs. Each room is 60 feet long and 25 feet wide. The walls of the courtroom are adorned with paintings of past governors as well as a full-length portrait of George the First. The chapel stairs are approached by a large trapdoor in the floor. Service is held there on Charter Day (26 March). Of the old standards for weights and measures, there is left a brass yard measure. The scales are of the date 1790. An oval tobacco-or snuffbox belonged to the ancient company of “Linnen Weavers”. On the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, the Merchant Adventurers in compliance with the will of Jane Stainton attend service in All Saints’ Church. Pavement, to be reminded of their latter end. The Merchant Taylors’ Hall, a brick building, is in Aldwark. In the smaller room is an inscription setting forth that:--“This Company has beene dignified in the yeare 1679, by haveing on their Fraternity eight kings, eleven dukes, thirty earles, and forty-four lords.” On St. John the Baptist’s Day the Merchant Taylors attend service at All Saints’ Church, Pavement, in accordance with the will of John Straker, who died in 1667. St. Anthony’s Hall, on Peaseholme Green, accommodated those of the city guilds which had no hall of their own. The hall, on the upper floor, 81 feet long and 58 feet wide, was divided into a nave (28 feet wide) and aisles, and was 40 feet high. It possesses a fine timber roof with embattled wall plate. The arched principals spring from corbels depicting angels with shields. Two oak tables remain. One carved “This table done at the cost of the sadlers”. The other “This done at the charges of the joyners and carpenters and masons”. In 1705 St. Anthony’s Hall was converted into the Blue Coat School. On the opposite side of the street, a gabled house, now the Black Swan, was occupied by the family of Bowes, a member of which, William, was twice Lord Mayor of York. His descendant, Sir Martin Bowes, born in the house, became Lord Mayor of London. Sir Martin presented a sword four feet long with a hilt of silver gilt to his native city. The blade is engraved “for a remembrance to the Mayor and Communaltie of this said honorable Citie”. The sheath was originally covered with crimson velvet garnished with stones and pearls.